egeffner@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Eric Geffner) (05/17/91)
I just wanted to say thanks to the people who replied to my post Mating or ill ?? which asked about my conure's regergitating habit. I am fairly sure that it is a mating behavior. I am really enjoying this wonderful bird, except some of his high pitched screams for me to come and hold him. I have two new questions.... 1. I would love it if he would learn to play with something, so far he has completely ignored all toys, and whenever I try to engage him in playing he is more content just being held and petted, does any one have any ideas on how to engage him in self play ??? This is becoming more and more important because I am not home for much of the day. 2. Does anyone know if gold-capped conures are rare ?? the person who sold him to me claimed that they are, and even mentioned that they are on the endangered species list. peace to all, eric
stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May16.233434.14751@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> egeffner@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Eric Geffner) writes: >2. Does anyone know if gold-capped conures are rare ?? the person who sold >him to me claimed that they are, and even mentioned that they are on the >endangered species list. According to the cites listings: CITES Control List (Bird Section) No. 8 as of 24 July 1989 with the January 18, 1990 Appendix I update. Cites II - includes All parrots, parakeets, lories, lorikeets, cockatoos and macaws not included in Appendix I. (29/10/81) - this includes conures Cites I - the only aratinga listing I could find was: Aratinga guarouba Golden Parakeet 03/07/75 (2) (2) This is also known as the Queen of Bavaria Conure. Technically, only those animals on Cites I are "endangered", however Cites II listing implies that the species "in trouble", but as you can see from above ALL PARROTS are on Cites II, so your gold-capped conure can still be exported from the wild. Stewart -- Stewart Winter Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830 FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Drive UUCP: stewartw%cognos.uucp@ccs.carleton.ca Ottawa, Ontario The bird of the day is .... Timneh Parrot CANADA K1G 3Z4
stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) (05/17/91)
In article <9653@cognos.UUCP> stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) writes: > Cites I - the only aratinga listing I could find was: > >Aratinga guarouba Golden Parakeet 03/07/75 (2) I overlooked the pyrrhura group which includes: Pyrrhura cruentata Ochre-marked Parakeet 03/07/75 Stewart -- Stewart Winter Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830 FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Drive UUCP: stewartw%cognos.uucp@ccs.carleton.ca Ottawa, Ontario The bird of the day is .... Timneh Parrot CANADA K1G 3Z4
burhans@mizar.usc.edu (Mustang Sally) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May16.233434.14751@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> egeffner@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Eric Geffner) writes: > >2. Does anyone know if gold-capped conures are rare ?? the person who sold >him to me claimed that they are, and even mentioned that they are on the >endangered species list. > Well I don't know the answer but I just wanted to pipe in. I have enjoyed all the posts about indoor birds--more than I thought I would--including the discussion of ethical issues about owning them, especially the rare ones. As a new birder I recently joined the Audobon society and got my first issue of their magazine which has an article about the parrot trade. In particular they were focussing on illegal sales of parrots and the effect this is having on the native populations of parrots. Very interesting and disturbing. They also touched on some information about legal sales and breeders and plans to require breeders licenses to try and cut down on the black-market harvesting and selling of these incredible birds. This got me to thinking that I hadn't really thought of parrots in terms of being real birds--living in L.A. there aren't any native parrots (or conures--I don't really know the diff) that I know of but of course we have our famous released, breeding populations screaming over various parts of the city. But those always seemed like such an anomaly as I have tended to "think" of parrots as belonging in cages. At the Audobon bookstore they have a book called Parrots, A Natural History that I glanced thru and it seems real interesting. One of its first points was that people don't tend to think of parrots as real birds. It has many beautiful pictures of parrots in their natural settings. I hope someday to visit places where I can see this. Meantime I hope that people who are responsible continue to breed parrots that are rare with a hope to someday releasing them. -- Jackie Burhans (burhans@usc.edu) Data Stylist, USC Student Affairs
stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) (05/22/91)
In article <32962@usc> burhans@mizar.usc.edu (Mustang Sally) writes: >the discussion of ethical issues about owning them, especially the rare >ones. I guess I believe that there is a great deal of good that aviculture can do in regards to rare species ... unfortunately we aren't always doing it. >As a new birder I recently joined the Audobon society and got my >first issue of their magazine which has an article about the parrot >trade. In particular they were focussing on illegal sales of parrots and >the effect this is having on the native populations of parrots. Very >interesting and disturbing. There are numerous causes of parrot declines in their native habitats. They include: (a) illegal trapping (for use within the country) (b) illegal trapping (for destinations outside the country) (c) illegal hunting (d) habitat destruction (e) diseases (such as PBFD) Solving the problem of parrot decline involves taking on each one of those issues. We can do quite a bit about problem (b) by encouraging the purchase of domestic bred (ie bred in country of purchase in captivity) parrots. Also, both the AFA (American Federation of Aviculture), PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council) and WFW (World Wildlife Fund) are supporting possible federal legislation which would phase out importation of birds into the United States over a period of 5 years with some exceptions (such as qualified breeders, zoos, etc). In some situations we can help with (c) (some parrots are caught because natives use their feathers in traditional ceremonies). While transport of feathers of endangered bird is technically illegal, CITES has (as I understand it) turned a blind-eye to the transport of bird-feathers back into the native country being run by some organizations (not sure who is doing this - maybe World Parrot Trust?). >screaming over various parts of the city. But those always seemed like >such an anomaly as I have tended to "think" of parrots as belonging >in cages. Yes, parrots do belong in the wild, but they can also lead fulfilling lives in captivity. It would be a tragedy if these birds disappeared from their native habitats. If you would like some positive news, try to get info the the RARE Center's efforts in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Dominica. In these countries, native parrot populations are actually increasing because the people living there are giving the parrots that opportunity. >At the Audobon bookstore they have a book called Parrots, A Natural History >that I glanced thru and it seems real interesting. One of its first point >was that people don't tend to think of parrots as real birds. It has many >beautiful pictures of parrots in their natural settings. I would also recommend reading some of Tony Silva's (curator at Loro Parque) writings as he has spent a great deal of time studying parrots in their native habitats. >Meantime I hope that people who >are responsible continue to breed parrots that are rare with a hope to >someday releasing them. This is a great ideal, but may be difficult to implement in practice. Attempts to reintroduce the Thick-Billed Parrot have not been terribly successful to-date. The captive bred birds have no concept of preditor evasion (many died by flying right in front of hawks) and have difficulty recognizing food hanging on a tree that was previously served up in a bowl. They are trying again with the Thick-Billed and are putting more effort into it. Optimistic estimates put survival rates somewhere around 20% in the first year (I have no idea how this compares to natural survival rates). Stewart -- Stewart Winter Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830 FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Drive UUCP: stewartw%cognos.uucp@ccs.carleton.ca Ottawa, Ontario The bird of the day is .... Timneh Parrot CANADA K1G 3Z4